Ontogenetic diet changes and food partitioning of Haemulon spp. coral reef fishes, with a review of the genus diet

Abstract

The genus Haemulon contains some of the most abundant and ecologically important reef fishes in the South Atlantic Ocean. However, their life history attributes have not been widely studied. Knowledge of ontogenetic changes in their resource use is critical to understanding the processes structuring natural communities. The present study analysed ontogenetic diet changes and food partitioning in Haemulon spp. We collected stomach contents from 276 individuals of four different size classes from four sympatric species (H. aurolineatum, H. parra, H. plumieri and H. squamipinna). There was a significant difference in the proportions of prey types between both species and size classes, providing evidence of food partitioning. Moreover, the Bray-Curtis similarity index revealed two distinct groups. The first consisted of larger-sized fish that consumed larger food items and the second group consisted of smaller individuals that fed on small invertebrates. There was an abrupt shift in the diet of Haemulon spp. at around 10.0 cm total length, a size that corresponds with the greatest morphological changes in the genus. Additionally, the diet overlap calculated by Pianka's index was more evident in smaller and larger size classes than in intermediate individuals. Together, these observations suggest Haemulon species undergo ontogenetic diet changes and food partitioning within species and size classes that are associated with changes in their habitat use, alongside morphological changes. Further research is needed to determine their ecomorphology and the competitive mechanisms that allow the coexistence of several sympatric and ecologically similar species of the genus Haemulon.

Optimization of foraging and diet by the piscivorous Othos dentex (Serranidae)

“…family, assuming that closely‐related prey have similar morphological and behavioural characteristics and therefore provide similar dietary choices. These studies have shown that the taxonomic composition of the prey of a fish species frequently changes as that predator increases in size (French et al ., ; Pereira et al ., ; Coulson et al ., ) and can differ among habitats and regions (Platell et al ., ; French et al ., ) and season (Fanelli et al ., ; Schückel et al ., ).…”

Food resources of Eucinostomus (Perciformes: Gerreidae) in a hyperhaline lagoon: Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

“…However between the 2 species, there is a resource partitioning in terms of the proportion and frequency of prey items. These changes are probably a consequence of habitat use and morphological changes in the fish (Ward-Campbell et al 2005, Russo et al 2008, Pereira et al 2014, which results in a wide trophic spectrum (generalist) or reduced trophic spectrum (specialist) (Hammerschlag et al 2010). These variations are in accordance with the niche partitioning theory (Bolnick et al 2003, Mariani et al 2011, which states that every time that a species decreases food resources shared by specialization, it reduces interspecific competition, while intraspecific competition increases (Pereira et al 2014).…”

“…In the present study, E. argenteus and E. gula had a similar diet, however a food resource partition was observed, where E. argenteus fed on amphipods and E. gula on annelids. This flexibility of diet, could be influenced by several factors including salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature (Dantas et al 2013), prey distribution (Pech et al 2007, Kuk-Dzul et al 2012, morphological changes such as increased mouth size (Ward-Campbell et al 2005, Nakane et al 2011, strengthening of the jaw and teeth, an increase in capturability (Nanjo et al 2008, Pereira et al 2014, or a simple change in metabolic requirements (Wootton 1998, Hammerschlag et al 2010 where juveniles use the energy for growth and survival, while adults utilize it for reproduction and maintenance (Gning et al 2008).…”

“…This could be due to their vertical distribution, substrate preferences, feeding behavior or species social interaction (Van Rooij et al 1996), where juveniles feed on water column organisms including copepods or amphipods, and adults feed on benthic ones such as annelids and crustaceans (Pereira et al 2014). In the case of adults, their benthic feeding behavior is reflected in an important accidental ingestion of detritus (Motta et al 1995, Gning et al 2008, 2010).…”

Dietary partitioning promotes the coexistence of planktivorous species on coral reefs

“…The reconstruction of food webs to sufficient taxonomic levels has been challenging because of the high species richness involved in trophic interactions and the complex three-dimensional structure in which these interactions occur (Enochs & Glynn, 2017). The vast majority of studies using morphological classification of semi-digested food remains in gut contents concluded that coral reef associated taxa within feeding guilds (e.g., browsing herbivores, invertivores, or planktivores) had widely overlapping diets (Anderson et al, 1981;Bouchonnavaro, 1986;Depczynski & Bellwood, 2003;Gladfelter & Johnson, 1983;Harmelin-Vivien, 1979;Hiatt & Strasburg, 1960;Hobson, 1974;Kulbicki et al, 2005;Longenecker, 2007;Pereira, Barros, Zemoi, & Ferreira, 2015;Randall, 1967;Ross, 1986;Talbot, Russell, & Anderson, 1978). Studies employing alternative strategies such as field observations of feeding behaviours (i.e., for corallivorous and herbivorous fish [Adam, Kelley, Ruttenberg, & Burkepile, 2015;Allgeier, Adam, & Burkepile, 2017;Pratchett, 2005Pratchett, , 2007Pratchett & Berumen, 2008]), or combinations of gut content and stable isotope analyses (Ho et al, 2007;Nagelkerken, van der Velde, Wartenbergh, Nugues, & Pratchett, 2009) have identified more pronounced dietary differences between co-occurring species.…”